President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday (21 August) that the United States was in a position to deploy a new land-based cruise missile in Romania and Poland and that Russia considered that a threat which it would have to respond to.

Russian state television has listed US military facilities that Moscow would target in the event of a nuclear strike, and said that a hypersonic missile Russia is developing would be able to hit them in less than five minutes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is militarily ready for a Cuban Missile-style crisis if the United States wanted one and threatened to place hypersonic nuclear missiles on ships or submarines near US territorial waters.

Moscow will match any US move to deploy new nuclear missiles closer to Russia by stationing its own missiles closer to the United States or by deploying faster missiles or both, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday (20 February). In...

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (20 December) accused the United States of raising the risk of nuclear war by threatening to spurn a key arms control treaty and refusing to hold talks about another pact that expires soon.

The United States delivered Russia a 60-day ultimatum on Tuesday (4 December) to come clean about what Washington says is a violation of a arms control treaty that keeps missiles out of Europe, saying only Moscow could save the pact.

President Vladimir Putin insisted on Wednesday (28 November) that Russian forces were in the right to seize three Ukrainian ships last weekend, while his Ukrainian colleague Petro Poroshenko invited NATO ships in the Azov Sea.

Russia said on Wednesday (29 November) it planned to deploy more of its advanced S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to Crimea as tensions rose with Ukraine over Moscow's seizure of three Ukrainian navy ships and their crews.

French President Emmanuel Macron led tributes to the millions of soldiers killed in World War One on Sunday (11 November), using an emotional ceremony in Paris attended by scores of world leaders to warn against nationalism a century on from the conflict.

European members of NATO urged the United States on Thursday (25 October) to try to bring Russia back into compliance with a nuclear arms control treaty rather than quit it, diplomats said, seeking to avoid a split in the alliance that Moscow could exploit.

Russia said on Monday (22 October) it would be forced to respond in kind to restore the military balance with the United States if President Donald Trump carried through on a threat to quit a nuclear arms treaty and began developing new missiles.

The European Commission on Monday (22 October) urged the United States and Russia to pursue talks to preserve a nuclear weapons treaty after President Donald Trump said Washington was withdrawing from the deal.

President Donald Trump said Washington would withdraw from a landmark Cold War-era treaty that eliminated nuclear missiles from Europe because Russia was violating the pact, triggering a warning of retaliatory measures from Moscow.

Russia has delivered an S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Syria, it said on Tuesday (2 October), in defiance of Israeli and US concerns that the arms sale would embolden Iran and escalate the Syrian war.

Russia regards as dangerous a statement by Washington's envoy to NATO who said Moscow must halt its covert development of a banned cruise missile system or the United States would seek to destroy it before it becomes operational.

The EU is about to agree a shared military industry fund which will give billions to arms companies and exacerbate the global arms race. Presented as a key step to strengthen the EU, instead, it enshrines renewed prevalence of national interests in a hard-security context, writes Laëtitia Sédou.

US military strikes on Syria last week removed any moral obligation Russia had to withhold S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems from its ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today (20 April) , according to RIA state news agency.

Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid called for US Patriot missiles and troops to be deployed to her small Baltic state yesterday (4 April), telling AFP it was necessary to make deterrence "believable" for Russia.

Global expenditure on weapons has risen for the second year in a row. Germany has increased its spending and opposition politicians want a new debate about defence. The issue could become crucial in the end-of-year elections. EURACTIV Germany reports.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel yesterday (9 March) warned about the danger of a new arms race spiral with Russia and called on all sides to work to end the violence in eastern Ukraine as a first step towards broader disarmament efforts.

A decision by Russia to permanently station nuclear-capable missiles in Kaliningrad, its enclave on the Baltic Sea, would mark a setback for European security, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel told Russian news agency Interfax yesterday (8 March).